Ask a doctor column: Women's risk for heart disease can rise later in life

Rohit Srivastava

Question: Aren't women at a much lower risk than men for heart problems?

Answer: While women, early in their lives, might be at a lower risk than men of developing cardiovascular disease, they quickly catch up to men later in life.

In addition, there are a number of factors that can greatly increase their chance of having heart-related health issues.

Women who are overweight, have diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol, and who smoke are all at higher risk to develop heart-related health problems. Losing and controlling weight also can lead to reduced blood pressure and lower cholesterol.

There are other factors like genetics that you can't control, so reducing your risk through weight loss, lowering blood pressure and smoking cessation is very important.

The statistics for women and heart disease are staggering. Unfortunately, it's often overlooked by women who think it can't happen to them. About every 90 seconds a woman in the U.S. dies from cardiovascular disease. More women die from cardiovascular disease than from the next four causes of death combined - including all forms of cancer.

Women need to know their blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and then take steps to reduce them. If they smoke, they need to quit. If they are overweight, they need to get active and lose weight.

Age and menopause also can affect your risk of heart disease. After menopause, women are more apt to get heart disease, in part because their body's production of estrogen drops. Women who have gone through early menopause, either naturally or because they have had a hysterectomy, are twice as likely to develop heart disease as women of the same age who have not yet gone through menopause.

Rohit Srivastava, M.D., is a Marshfield Clinic cardiologist who sees patients in Weston, Wausau and Merrill. This column provides health information and is not intended to be medical advice or a substitute for care from your health care provider.

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Ask a doctor column: Women's risk for heart disease can rise later in life

Question: Aren't women at a much lower risk than men for heart problems?

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